Returning to the China Open after 11 years, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic beat Portugal's Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (2)
BEIJING — Returning to the China Open after 11 years, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic beat Portugal's Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (2), while the second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime was upset by Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-3, 6-3 in the men's singles first round on Wednesday.
Serbian veteran Djokovic, 39, last competed at the China Open in 2015, when he defeated Rafael Nadal in the final to claim his sixth title. He remains the tournament's most successful men's singles player, having won in 2009, 2010, and from 2012 to 2015.
"Again, great feeling for most of the first set, but a kind of struggle physically a bit there. Then, it was a different match in a sense. I was serving well. In my service games, I was going through quite comfortably in the second set, particularly. In the tie-break, I played great and was really happy to close it out in two sets," Djokovic said, as quoted by Xinhua.
The veteran also expressed gratitude to fans, saying, "I honestly didn't expect the stadium to be full for the first match. Chinese people are unbelievably passionate about tennis. They deserve every bit of action and energy coming from us on the court. We are trying our best to return the love and passion."
Djokovic will next face China's Buyunchaokete, who just won over Argentina's Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
Canadian favourite Auger-Aliassime was shocked by Khachanov in straight sets on Diamond Court. At the US Open this month, Auger-Aliassime was also eliminated by Khachanov in the second round.
In other matches, China's Zhang Zhizhen lost to French qualifier Arthur Gea 6-4, 6-3 in the men's singles first round. On the women's side, China's Yuan Yue saw off Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine 6-2, 6-3, while another Chinese player, Bai Zhuoxuan, was defeated by Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3.
On Thursday, top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany will meet Cameron Norrie of Britain, while an all-Chinese women's first-round match will be staged between Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen and Shi Han.